government to avoid defaulting on its debts even if the debt ceiling is not raised. >> and there is no reason for the government to default unless president obama and the democrats want us to. it's just a scare tactic to continue the spending that they don't want to address. that's why they keep saying, "oh, we're going to default. we're going to default. we're going to default." it's just not true. >> reporter: but talk like that scares many budget analysts in washington. they argue markets will see a failure by the unit ed states to pay any of its bills as a threat it could one day stop paying some or all of its bills, including interest on its debt. >> if we pay the chinese the interest we owe them on their sovereign debt holdings, on time and in full, but we don't pay social security recipients or armed services personnel their salaries, is that a default? well, of course it is. >> reporter: a recent inspector general's report found the treasury doesn't have the computer systems in prioritize some payments over others. so if the treasury runs short of cash, it would most likely del